Movie-News Roundup
December 19th, 2001
Here we go -- all the movie news you can stomach. Clearly I had nothing better to do. These pieces come from around the web, but for the most part VARIETY and THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.
Let us start --
Don Cheadle (OUT OF SIGHT), Michelle Williams (DAWSONS CREEK) and Jena Malone (LIFE AS A HOUSE) have joined the cast of first-time director Matthew Ryan Hoges UNITED STATES OF LELAND. Ryan Gossling plays the titular character, who murders an autistic child and claims that he committed the act out of sadness. The boy is sent to a juvenile facility, where a male teacher named Pearl must unravel the mystery behind Leland's murderous act and sadness while dealing with how the tragic killing affects the families of both the victim and the perpetrator.
(My two cents: sounds like fertile material, but the term committed murder out of sadness kind of throws me off course.)
*
Universal Pictures and Dino De Laurentiis Co. are bringing to the big screen author Ken Follett's latest novel, the adventure thriller JACKDAWS. Jeannine Dominy (DANGEROUS BEAUTY) will adapt the screenplay, based on a true story that took place in occupied France during the darkest days of World War II. Set in 1944 on the eve of D-Day, JACKDAWS tells the story of a last-minute Allied effort to assemble an all-female band of British agents, code-named Jackdaws, to infiltrate and destroy a French chateau. Housed in this particular chateau is a key telephone exchange that connects French phone lines with Germany's, a link that would enable the Nazis to hear in advance about the Normandy invasion.
(My two cents: when I heard about this book I thought it would be a great, great movie...IF they got the right writer. Have they? I dont think so. They should have hired someone like Steve Barancik or even John August. What about Ron Bass? Or Joss Whedon? Or Daniel Waters? Oh, well -- theyll probably be brought in on the fifteen thousand rewrites.)
*
In the most unlikely of movie announcements, MTV is bringing JACKASS, that show where the too-nice-to-dislike Johnny Knoxville abuses himself, to the big screen. My question is: what the hell is this movie going to be about? Will there be a Hollywood-enhanced rerun of the port-a-san scene? Will Hollywood, through their magic, make US know what it feels like to have feces dumped onto you? Who knows.
Knoxville was smart to dump (no pun) his show after young, stupid kids started to emulate it. Barry Sonnenfeld liked him so much he put him in BIG TROUBLE and MEN IN BLACK II. Going back to the trough he came from is the dumbest thing Knoxville could have done. Maybe he really is a jackass.
*
Brittany Murphy (DONT SAY A WORD) and Ashton Kutcher (THAT 70s SHOW) have taken the lead roles in director Shawn Levys JUST MARRIED. Story concerns a happy couple who follow their hearts and get married against the wishes of friends and family members who tell them they are too young. Following the wedding, they set off for what they hope will be the perfect vacation, only to experience the honeymoon from hell.
(Dont act like youre not excited by this project. Like me, you waited for DUDE, WHERES MY CAR? to come out on video and you were astonished that you liked it. Cmon, you can admit it. Or maybe not. Maybe its just me and my friends. Could we be the only ones that were screaming aaaaaannnnndddd tttthhhheeeennnn? for two months? Or: Dude! Whats mine say? Sweet! Whats mine say? Dude! But what does mine say? SWEET -- ! Oh, forget it.)
*
Lawrence Kasdans adaptation of Steve Kings DREAMCATCHER is shaping up into something special. Timothy Olyphant (an underrated chap; youve seen him in GO and GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS) and Donnie Wahlberg have joined the cast, which includes the greatest living actor Morgan Freeman, Jason Lee, Tom Sizemore, Thomas Jane and Damian Lewis. Lawrence Kasdan, who is breathtakingly diverse, will direct. And luckily for us, hes also using his own script. William Goldman had initially drafted the novel. But to be honest, Goldmans last King adaptation, HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, was dry as hell.
Lee, Lewis, Olyphant and Jane play the four friends who get together for a reunion. And Wahlberg will play their mentally-challenged friend Duddits.
The players in this movie are significantly younger than the players in Kings book, which could point to changes Kasdan has made (and hes gonna have to change something, because the book is 600 pages long).
*
RUNAWAY JURY has once again been hung up by its players. Will Smith and Mike Newell have dropped out of the John Grisham adaptation. No reason was given as to why. Its a shame -- Will Smith would have had a comfortable fit for the first time in a while. The script I reviewed by Matthew Chapman had been given rewrite service by Brian Koppelman and David Levien -- so maybe its a good thing the movie didnt go forward.
*
David Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson and Emily Mortimer are starring in A FOREIGN AFFAIR, a dark comedy based on the romance tours designed to pair lonely American men with beautiful Russian women who hope to find freedom through marriage.
Now shooting in St. Petersburg, AFFAIR is the story of two brothers from the Midwest who are beside themselves when their mother dies. They decide to go to Russia to find and bring home a traditionally minded wife for the younger brother.
Nelson and Arquette are executive producers on the film, which is being shot during a real romance tour. Actual American would-be husbands and Russian would-be wives serve as extras and background. Helmut Schleppi directs the Dutch project.
*
Harvey Keitel, Joey Lauren Adams and Ed Quinn have signed to star in BEEPER an English-language thriller that will shoot in Hyderabad, India this month.
The film revolves around a California doctor (Quinn) whose young son is kidnapped during a medical conference in India. The doctor receives a beeper from the kidnappers with instructions that lead him to a drug dealer (Keitel). Adams plays a police officer who helps track the kidnappers.
*
Bill Paxton and Julia Ormond will star in RESISTANCE.
Paxton plays an American pilot downed in Nazi-occupied Belgium. He falls for a married woman (Ormond) who nurses him back to health; her husband is fighting in the resistance. Todd Komarnicki is directing from his own script.
(Julia Ormond is among my favorite actresses and Im happy to see her working again. But why is she choosing lard like this and the straight-to-IFC PRIME GIG?)
*
Meg Ryan and Richard Gere are in talks to team for the romantic comedy WEDLOCKED.
The duo would play a couple of divorce lawyers who find their marriage is just about over. Desperate to stay together, they seek help from a therapist, who fingercuffs them together for 48 hours.
(This sounds mature and intelligent; clearly these two aging actors should reduce themselves to this type of material.)
*
On a personal note, I was a little surprised to see that Robert Nelson Jacobs received sole credit on THE SHIPPING NEWS. Ron Bass and at least three other writers worked on the script. I guess we can assume Jacobs wrote his own script, right? Which might be why the movie looks so absolutely horrible.
*
And to the screenwriting news:
Touchstone Pictures is returning to the World War II front in buying the WWII drama MANILA BAY as a pitch from writer Michael Stokes for low- against mid-six figures. Stokes developed the project with producing team Mike Macari and Neal Edelstein. The tentatively titled "Manila," set in the South Pacific, is based on true events surrounding a group of U.S. Navy officers forced by the Japanese army to hunt for treasure. It is described as a cross between the classic war films OBJECTIVE, BURMA! and TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH.
*
Artisan Pictures has tapped scribe Bill Wheeler to pen a feature script titled THE GARBO DECEPTION, based on the life of World War II creative mastermind Juan Pujol. GARBO is based on government documents and other source material that detail the exploits of Pujol, who succeeded in deceiving the Germans about the Allied Forces' activities leading up to D-Day. British Intelligence was so mesmerized by Pujol's illusions that they code-named him GARBO after famed actress Greta Garbo.
*
Paramount has nabbed the Matt Brown spec AMERICAN GIRL IN LONDON for Kate Hudson to topline.
Pic will be produced by Hudson and Cosmic Entertainment -- the shingle Hudson runs with Oliver Hudson, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Laura Bickford (TRAFFIC) will produce with Cosmic's Jay Cohen and Emily Cummins. The producers are currently looking for a director. Bickford Prod's Jennifer Dana will serve in a producing capacity as well.
AMERICAN centers on a Southern woman who travels to England and embarks on a wild weekend with a gentleman, only to find that he is engaged to someone else.
*
The proposals came fast and furious, but ultimately it was Universal Pictures that said I do to THE BACHELORETTE.
Written by tyro scribe Meghan McCarthy, the project was the subject of hot bidding contest between New Line Cinema and Universal.
The deal marks the first sale for former Disney Fellowship screenwriter McCarthy, and coincides with her own recent wedding.
BACHELORETTE follows a young ad exec who's forced to throw a last-minute blowout after she's informed of an age-old family hex that promises painful and messy marital dissolution for those who do not observe the revelry-making tradition.
When the rambunctious party devolves into a huge mess, she questions whether anyone so straitlaced as her fianc�could put up with her.
*
MGM has nabbed THUMB, a script penned by Tom Ropelewski (THE NEXT BEST THING). If the pic gets made, Ropelewski will receive a seven-figure payday.
The romantic comedy, a contemporary take on the Tom Thumb fairy tale, follows the adventures of a 5-inch-tall man who rises to prominence at a San Francisco architecture firm.
*
Gotham-based GreeneStreet Films has acquired the urban romantic comedy ONE BAD SISTA, which Cheryl Dunye penned and will direct.
SISTA concerns a young female rapper who disguises herself as a man in order to make it in the male-dominated rap world.
*
Atlantic Streamline has acquired the comedy spec JIGGLY by Amy Rardin and Jessica O'Toole.
Story concerns two girls -- one a spoiled socialite, the other a sexy trailer park resident. When the socialite's father cuts off her support system, the two wind up sharing a seedy apartment.
*
USA Films has acquired TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY, Paul Bernbaum's original script about the man who portrayed TV's Superman, George Reeves.
Brothers Michael and Mark Polish will direct and produce, respectively, with Bernbaum on board as exec producer.
Bernbaum's script details the botched investigation into Reeves' mysterious 1959 death in Hollywood as well as, through flashbacks, the actor's complex relationship with the iconic role that propelled him to stardom.
The Polish brothers previously made the features TWIN FALLS and JACKPOT.
*
And finally, some TV news:
BUFFY fans, rejoice! Your God, Joss Whedon, will be spreading even more love.
Fox Broadcasting has given a 13-episode commitment to FIREFLY, a sci-fi action-drama from Joss Whedon. The series will be produced by Whedon's Mutant Enemy Prods. in association with 20th Century Fox Television, where Whedon has an overall deal. Whedon will executive produce "Firefly," which is eyed for a fall 2002 debut and marks Fox's first series commitment for next fall. The series will launch with a two-hour pilot episode, which Whedon is writing and will direct. Set 400-500 years in the future in a newly established Union of Planets, FIREFLY centers on the crew of Serenity, a small transport spaceship of class firefly who will take any job -- legal or not -- to stay afloat and put bread on the table.
Sounds good to me. And hell finally be off UPN/WB, meaning I, Darwin Mayflower, can finally watch him. Just kidding. The truth is, it will be interesting to see if Whedon can work his magic with a larger audience. His sci-fi script for ALIEN: RESURRECTION was, to say the least, better than the film that it spawned; and his show HAS to be better than the falling-apart DARK ANGEL...right?
Darwin Mayflower (darwinmayflower@yahoo.com).
Let us start --
Don Cheadle (OUT OF SIGHT), Michelle Williams (DAWSONS CREEK) and Jena Malone (LIFE AS A HOUSE) have joined the cast of first-time director Matthew Ryan Hoges UNITED STATES OF LELAND. Ryan Gossling plays the titular character, who murders an autistic child and claims that he committed the act out of sadness. The boy is sent to a juvenile facility, where a male teacher named Pearl must unravel the mystery behind Leland's murderous act and sadness while dealing with how the tragic killing affects the families of both the victim and the perpetrator.
(My two cents: sounds like fertile material, but the term committed murder out of sadness kind of throws me off course.)
*
Universal Pictures and Dino De Laurentiis Co. are bringing to the big screen author Ken Follett's latest novel, the adventure thriller JACKDAWS. Jeannine Dominy (DANGEROUS BEAUTY) will adapt the screenplay, based on a true story that took place in occupied France during the darkest days of World War II. Set in 1944 on the eve of D-Day, JACKDAWS tells the story of a last-minute Allied effort to assemble an all-female band of British agents, code-named Jackdaws, to infiltrate and destroy a French chateau. Housed in this particular chateau is a key telephone exchange that connects French phone lines with Germany's, a link that would enable the Nazis to hear in advance about the Normandy invasion.
(My two cents: when I heard about this book I thought it would be a great, great movie...IF they got the right writer. Have they? I dont think so. They should have hired someone like Steve Barancik or even John August. What about Ron Bass? Or Joss Whedon? Or Daniel Waters? Oh, well -- theyll probably be brought in on the fifteen thousand rewrites.)
*
In the most unlikely of movie announcements, MTV is bringing JACKASS, that show where the too-nice-to-dislike Johnny Knoxville abuses himself, to the big screen. My question is: what the hell is this movie going to be about? Will there be a Hollywood-enhanced rerun of the port-a-san scene? Will Hollywood, through their magic, make US know what it feels like to have feces dumped onto you? Who knows.
Knoxville was smart to dump (no pun) his show after young, stupid kids started to emulate it. Barry Sonnenfeld liked him so much he put him in BIG TROUBLE and MEN IN BLACK II. Going back to the trough he came from is the dumbest thing Knoxville could have done. Maybe he really is a jackass.
*
Brittany Murphy (DONT SAY A WORD) and Ashton Kutcher (THAT 70s SHOW) have taken the lead roles in director Shawn Levys JUST MARRIED. Story concerns a happy couple who follow their hearts and get married against the wishes of friends and family members who tell them they are too young. Following the wedding, they set off for what they hope will be the perfect vacation, only to experience the honeymoon from hell.
(Dont act like youre not excited by this project. Like me, you waited for DUDE, WHERES MY CAR? to come out on video and you were astonished that you liked it. Cmon, you can admit it. Or maybe not. Maybe its just me and my friends. Could we be the only ones that were screaming aaaaaannnnndddd tttthhhheeeennnn? for two months? Or: Dude! Whats mine say? Sweet! Whats mine say? Dude! But what does mine say? SWEET -- ! Oh, forget it.)
*
Lawrence Kasdans adaptation of Steve Kings DREAMCATCHER is shaping up into something special. Timothy Olyphant (an underrated chap; youve seen him in GO and GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS) and Donnie Wahlberg have joined the cast, which includes the greatest living actor Morgan Freeman, Jason Lee, Tom Sizemore, Thomas Jane and Damian Lewis. Lawrence Kasdan, who is breathtakingly diverse, will direct. And luckily for us, hes also using his own script. William Goldman had initially drafted the novel. But to be honest, Goldmans last King adaptation, HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, was dry as hell.
Lee, Lewis, Olyphant and Jane play the four friends who get together for a reunion. And Wahlberg will play their mentally-challenged friend Duddits.
The players in this movie are significantly younger than the players in Kings book, which could point to changes Kasdan has made (and hes gonna have to change something, because the book is 600 pages long).
*
RUNAWAY JURY has once again been hung up by its players. Will Smith and Mike Newell have dropped out of the John Grisham adaptation. No reason was given as to why. Its a shame -- Will Smith would have had a comfortable fit for the first time in a while. The script I reviewed by Matthew Chapman had been given rewrite service by Brian Koppelman and David Levien -- so maybe its a good thing the movie didnt go forward.
*
David Arquette, Tim Blake Nelson and Emily Mortimer are starring in A FOREIGN AFFAIR, a dark comedy based on the romance tours designed to pair lonely American men with beautiful Russian women who hope to find freedom through marriage.
Now shooting in St. Petersburg, AFFAIR is the story of two brothers from the Midwest who are beside themselves when their mother dies. They decide to go to Russia to find and bring home a traditionally minded wife for the younger brother.
Nelson and Arquette are executive producers on the film, which is being shot during a real romance tour. Actual American would-be husbands and Russian would-be wives serve as extras and background. Helmut Schleppi directs the Dutch project.
*
Harvey Keitel, Joey Lauren Adams and Ed Quinn have signed to star in BEEPER an English-language thriller that will shoot in Hyderabad, India this month.
The film revolves around a California doctor (Quinn) whose young son is kidnapped during a medical conference in India. The doctor receives a beeper from the kidnappers with instructions that lead him to a drug dealer (Keitel). Adams plays a police officer who helps track the kidnappers.
*
Bill Paxton and Julia Ormond will star in RESISTANCE.
Paxton plays an American pilot downed in Nazi-occupied Belgium. He falls for a married woman (Ormond) who nurses him back to health; her husband is fighting in the resistance. Todd Komarnicki is directing from his own script.
(Julia Ormond is among my favorite actresses and Im happy to see her working again. But why is she choosing lard like this and the straight-to-IFC PRIME GIG?)
*
Meg Ryan and Richard Gere are in talks to team for the romantic comedy WEDLOCKED.
The duo would play a couple of divorce lawyers who find their marriage is just about over. Desperate to stay together, they seek help from a therapist, who fingercuffs them together for 48 hours.
(This sounds mature and intelligent; clearly these two aging actors should reduce themselves to this type of material.)
*
On a personal note, I was a little surprised to see that Robert Nelson Jacobs received sole credit on THE SHIPPING NEWS. Ron Bass and at least three other writers worked on the script. I guess we can assume Jacobs wrote his own script, right? Which might be why the movie looks so absolutely horrible.
*
And to the screenwriting news:
Touchstone Pictures is returning to the World War II front in buying the WWII drama MANILA BAY as a pitch from writer Michael Stokes for low- against mid-six figures. Stokes developed the project with producing team Mike Macari and Neal Edelstein. The tentatively titled "Manila," set in the South Pacific, is based on true events surrounding a group of U.S. Navy officers forced by the Japanese army to hunt for treasure. It is described as a cross between the classic war films OBJECTIVE, BURMA! and TWELVE O'CLOCK HIGH.
*
Artisan Pictures has tapped scribe Bill Wheeler to pen a feature script titled THE GARBO DECEPTION, based on the life of World War II creative mastermind Juan Pujol. GARBO is based on government documents and other source material that detail the exploits of Pujol, who succeeded in deceiving the Germans about the Allied Forces' activities leading up to D-Day. British Intelligence was so mesmerized by Pujol's illusions that they code-named him GARBO after famed actress Greta Garbo.
*
Paramount has nabbed the Matt Brown spec AMERICAN GIRL IN LONDON for Kate Hudson to topline.
Pic will be produced by Hudson and Cosmic Entertainment -- the shingle Hudson runs with Oliver Hudson, Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Laura Bickford (TRAFFIC) will produce with Cosmic's Jay Cohen and Emily Cummins. The producers are currently looking for a director. Bickford Prod's Jennifer Dana will serve in a producing capacity as well.
AMERICAN centers on a Southern woman who travels to England and embarks on a wild weekend with a gentleman, only to find that he is engaged to someone else.
*
The proposals came fast and furious, but ultimately it was Universal Pictures that said I do to THE BACHELORETTE.
Written by tyro scribe Meghan McCarthy, the project was the subject of hot bidding contest between New Line Cinema and Universal.
The deal marks the first sale for former Disney Fellowship screenwriter McCarthy, and coincides with her own recent wedding.
BACHELORETTE follows a young ad exec who's forced to throw a last-minute blowout after she's informed of an age-old family hex that promises painful and messy marital dissolution for those who do not observe the revelry-making tradition.
When the rambunctious party devolves into a huge mess, she questions whether anyone so straitlaced as her fianc�could put up with her.
*
MGM has nabbed THUMB, a script penned by Tom Ropelewski (THE NEXT BEST THING). If the pic gets made, Ropelewski will receive a seven-figure payday.
The romantic comedy, a contemporary take on the Tom Thumb fairy tale, follows the adventures of a 5-inch-tall man who rises to prominence at a San Francisco architecture firm.
*
Gotham-based GreeneStreet Films has acquired the urban romantic comedy ONE BAD SISTA, which Cheryl Dunye penned and will direct.
SISTA concerns a young female rapper who disguises herself as a man in order to make it in the male-dominated rap world.
*
Atlantic Streamline has acquired the comedy spec JIGGLY by Amy Rardin and Jessica O'Toole.
Story concerns two girls -- one a spoiled socialite, the other a sexy trailer park resident. When the socialite's father cuts off her support system, the two wind up sharing a seedy apartment.
*
USA Films has acquired TRUTH, JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY, Paul Bernbaum's original script about the man who portrayed TV's Superman, George Reeves.
Brothers Michael and Mark Polish will direct and produce, respectively, with Bernbaum on board as exec producer.
Bernbaum's script details the botched investigation into Reeves' mysterious 1959 death in Hollywood as well as, through flashbacks, the actor's complex relationship with the iconic role that propelled him to stardom.
The Polish brothers previously made the features TWIN FALLS and JACKPOT.
*
And finally, some TV news:
BUFFY fans, rejoice! Your God, Joss Whedon, will be spreading even more love.
Fox Broadcasting has given a 13-episode commitment to FIREFLY, a sci-fi action-drama from Joss Whedon. The series will be produced by Whedon's Mutant Enemy Prods. in association with 20th Century Fox Television, where Whedon has an overall deal. Whedon will executive produce "Firefly," which is eyed for a fall 2002 debut and marks Fox's first series commitment for next fall. The series will launch with a two-hour pilot episode, which Whedon is writing and will direct. Set 400-500 years in the future in a newly established Union of Planets, FIREFLY centers on the crew of Serenity, a small transport spaceship of class firefly who will take any job -- legal or not -- to stay afloat and put bread on the table.
Sounds good to me. And hell finally be off UPN/WB, meaning I, Darwin Mayflower, can finally watch him. Just kidding. The truth is, it will be interesting to see if Whedon can work his magic with a larger audience. His sci-fi script for ALIEN: RESURRECTION was, to say the least, better than the film that it spawned; and his show HAS to be better than the falling-apart DARK ANGEL...right?
Darwin Mayflower (darwinmayflower@yahoo.com).
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